Can a Computer Ever Rival a Violin?

Will musical technology ever be as good as "the real thing"? Innovators tend to exalt the new, but "composer and inventor" Tod Machover sings the praises of old-fashioned instruments in the New York Times. "There isn't yet a performance measurement
system," he writes, "that could come close
to interpreting the exuberance, range and immediacy of someone like
Gustavo Dudamel or truly enhancing the experience of an 'unplugged'
symphony orchestra."

While he's also excited about new
developments, Machover is intensely aware of the "paradox" of music as a material, technological feat, and also a spiritual experience:

The desire to
shape the future is not perfectly compatible with the knowledge that
musical experience--and its power to excite and transform us--is
fleeting, here and now, in this very moment.

Machover opens the floor to readers, asking whether technological performances will ever match traditional virtuosi, before taking a leap into the speculative: "will an iPhone or its descendents allow us to enhance our
musical imaginations while merging with our bodies, becoming--literally--second nature as we create and communicate our deepest
thoughts and feelings through sound?"

News reports are focusing on the Germanwings pilot's possible depression, following a familiar script in the wake of mass killings. But the evidence shows violence is extremely rare among the mentally ill.